Is Rocket about to leave the table for good?

While he is showing signs of being wearied by an increasingly demanding schedule more than by age, Ronnie O'Sullivan is right when he asserts that he is entering his snooker dotage.

The Rocket is now 36.

He embarked upon the May Bank Holiday marathon that is the Betfred.com World Championship final on Sunday afternoon in the knowledge that should he win, he will become the oldest champion since Ray Reardon in 1978 - when Ronnie was just two years old.

Cue an exit?: Ronnie O'Sullivan has already expressed health concerns

In the intervening period, snooker has become a younger man's game.

With just two weeks of next season's calendar unoccupied by an official tournament somewhere in the world, it is about to become younger still.

O'Sullivan has already expressed his reluctance to risk his health by travelling to tournaments which carry inconsequential ranking points and prize money by the standards of a career which has grossed more than £6.7m in table earnings as well as 23 world ranking titles.

Under the cush: Ali Carter faced a daunting task in the final against an opponent who wants to go out on a high

Following his semi-final victory over Matthew Stevens on Saturday evening, he reiterated his threat to retire whatever the result of this match.

He may or may not carry that out that threat, such has been the regularity with which he has issued it in recent years, but if he did leave the game, it would be a catastrophic loss.

O'Sullivan has played snooker for the gods in this world championship. In control of his own emotions and the vagaries of a mind which has thrown negative thoughts at him from all directions in the past, at times he has toyed with his opponents demonstrating his brilliance at the tactical side of the game, at others he has simply potted everything in sight.

Position obsession: O'Sullivan (left) and Carter eye up the table

There have been signs that two players who have accompanied O'Sullivan on his journey from teenage prodigy to champion, John Higgins and Mark Williams, are beginning to struggle with consistency as they get older - Higgins is 36, Williams 37.

O'Sullivan has never looked better.

On a roll: If O'Sullivan wins the the title he would be the oldest champion since Ray Reardon in 1978

According to Dennis Taylor, who was 40 days younger than O'Sullivan is now when he beat Steve Davis in the famous black ball final of 1985, age will not present the Rocket with any physical barrier.

Taylor said: 'The hardest thing as you get older is putting the practice in. That's what happened to Stephen Hendry. He's still seeing the ball as well, playing as well but you lose that will to practise as much as you used to do.

In the shade: Carter was eclipsed in the early session of the final

'Eyesight doesn't come into it. It's the technique that has to hold up and hold up under pressure. I always make the comparison with Ray Reardon and John Spencer. They played their best snooker in their early 40s simply because they didn't turn pro until they were a bit older.

'I was beginning to think that no-one older than me was ever going to win it. If anyone, I thought maybe it would be John Higgins. But if Ronnie wins it this year, that's four world titles and he's only 36 so he could equal Stephen's record of seven. It's still on the cards.

Pure theatre: Carter sizes up a red in the Betfred.com World Snooker Championships final

'He keeps talking about retiring but I said years ago he should have been looking at Tiger Woods trying to beat Jack Nicklaus's record and that would be the motivation he needs.

'If he does equal Stephen's record I would hold him up as the greatest player who ever held a cue.'

The description fitted the majesty of an imperious 141 total clearance with which O'Sullivan clinched the final frame of Sunday's afternoon session to establish a 5-3 lead over Ali Carter.